Power management of radio transceiver elements

ABSTRACT

A radio receiver includes a power control module for selectively powering down and powering up radio receiver elements in between known communication periods according to one aspect of the present invention. According to a second aspect of the invention, the radio receiver operates in a low power mode of operation and periodically “sniffs” to determine whether an access point has messages or communication signals to transmit to it.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. §120, as a continuation to U.S. Utility patent applicationSer. No. 10/277,787, entitled “Power Management of Radio TransceiverElements,” filed Oct. 22, 2002, pending, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety and made part of the present U.S.Utility patent application for all purposes:

U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/277,787 claims prioritypursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/403,224, entitled “Power Management of Radio TransceiverElements,” filed Aug. 12, 2002, expired, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety and made part of the present U.S.Utility patent application for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems andmore particularly to radio frequency integrated circuits used in suchwireless communication systems.

2. Description of Related Art

Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire linedcommunications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices.Such communication systems range from national and/or internationalcellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-homewireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, andhence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards.For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordancewith one or more standards, including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11,Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access(CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS),multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variationsthereof.

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wirelesscommunication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio,personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptopcomputer, home entertainment equipment, etc., communicates directly orindirectly with other wireless communication devices. For directcommunications (also known as point-to-point communications), theparticipating wireless communication devices tune their receivers andtransmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of a pluralityof radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system)and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wirelesscommunications, each wireless communication device communicates directlywith an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or anassociated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wirelessnetwork) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connectionbetween the wireless communication devices, the associated base stationsand/or associated access points communicate with each other directly,via a system controller, via a public switch telephone network (PSTN),via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.

For each wireless communication device to participate in wirelesscommunications, it either includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e.,receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radiotransceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wirelesscommunication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the transmitterincludes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency(IF) stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage convertsraw data into baseband signals in accordance with a particular wirelesscommunication standard. The one or more IF stages mix the basebandsignals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. Thepower amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via anantenna.

As is also known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes alow noise amplifier, one or more IF stages, a filtering stage, and adata recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives inbound RF signalsvia the antenna and amplifies then. The one or more IF stages mix theamplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert theamplified RF signal into baseband signals or IF signals. The filteringstage filters the baseband signals or the IF signals to attenuateunwanted out-of-band signals to produce filtered signals. The datarecovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signals in accordancewith the particular wireless communication standard.

Each of the various stages of the radio receiver consume differingamounts of power. Because it is desirable to extend battery life to amaximum amount, many devices provide for a sleep mode in which thedevice is powered down until activated by the depression of a key or thelike. Some of the wireless communication standards provide for poweringdown a receiver for a specified period of time and then powering thereceiver back up to enable it to engage in communications. The currentdesigns and proposals, however, do not provide specific suggestions formaximizing the amount of power savings and do not provide for powersaving modes and periods that maximally extend battery life.

Therefore, a need exists for a power management mode of operation thatimproves the power management functionality of a radio receiver and thatmaximizes battery life before recharging is required.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theDrawings, the Detailed Description of the Invention, and the claims.Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the invention madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication systemin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication devicein accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram of a radio receiver operating in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of a radio receiver operating in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram illustrating power reduction operation inaccordance with an embodiment of the present;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of areceiver path of a handheld host according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a medium access control (MAC)module illustrating one aspect of the present embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for saving power in a radioreceiver according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternate method within a radio transceiverintegrated circuit for reducing power consumption; and

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of the inventive method utilizing aperiodic power mode of operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A radio receiver includes functionality for selectively powering downradio receiver elements in a manner that maximizes battery life. Acontrol module of a radio receiver evaluates, on a radio receiverelement-by-element basis, whether the element may be powered down, whenit should be brought back up, and what type of power down mode should beutilized therefor. Accordingly, by considering the amount of time thatis required to power down and power back up (power cycle time) theelement in relation to the amount of available time to do so, thecontrol module can selectively power down radio receiver elements toconserve power and battery life of the radio receiver. Additionally, inone embodiment of the invention, the control module not only considerswhether there is enough time to power down an element and back up, butalso whether the power consumed in doing so is less than the power savedduring the period in which the element is powered down. Thus, thecontrol element serves to intelligently manage power consumption on anelement-by-element basis.

As another aspect of the present invention, elements having similarpower cycle time values or characteristics may be grouped togetherwherein they are powered down and back up jointly. Further, an element,as defined herein, is not necessarily limited to an entire module orblock. For example, a local oscillator may be separated into a pluralityof components, each having separate power cycle times. Morespecifically, the elements of a local oscillator include a crystal, acrystal amplifier, a phase-locked-loop (PLL), and a clock distributiontree. Each of these four elements have differing power cycle times. ThePLL has the greatest power cycle time because it has the greatestrecovery (power-up) time. Thus, the present invention provides forpartially powering down circuit modules according to power cyclecharacteristics of each of the components and component blocks therein.Similarly, a medium access control (MAC) device may be broken into atleast two component blocks having different power cycle characteristicsand, therefore, may be controlled separately to minimize powerconsumption.

One advantage of the present invention is that power consumptionutilizing traditional circuit designs may be minimized. Further, adesigner implementing the present invention may determine throughexperimentation for his or her particular design, that power consumptionmay be reduced by designing circuit component blocks having greatercomplexity and operational power consumption but that have faster powercycle time characteristics. For example, if a first design has a powercycle characteristic that does not allow it to be powered down and backup during a period in which a transceiver is in a transmit mode ofoperation, a second design, while consuming more power during a receivemode of operation but having a shorter power cycle time, may be powereddown during the transmit mode of operation thereby consuming less poweron average. These and other advantages may be better understood in viewof the description of the figures that follow.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a communication system10 that includes a plurality of base stations or access points 12-16, aplurality of wireless communication devices 18-32 and a network hardwarecomponent 34. The wireless communication devices 18-32 may be laptophost computers 18 and 26, personal digital assistant hosts 20 and 30,personal computer hosts 24 and 32 and/or cellular telephone hosts 22 and28. The details of the wireless communication devices will be describedin greater detail with reference to FIG. 2.

The base stations or access points 12-16 are operably coupled to thenetwork hardware 34 via local area network connections 36, 38 and 40.The network hardware 34, which may be a router, switch, bridge, modem,system controller, etc., provides a wide area network connection 42 forthe communication system 10. Each of the base stations or access points12-16 has an associated antenna or antenna array to communicate with thewireless communication devices in its area. Typically, the wirelesscommunication devices register with a particular base station or accesspoint 12-16 to receive services from the communication system 10. Fordirect connections (i.e., point-to-point communications), wirelesscommunication devices communicate directly via an allocated channel.

Typically, base stations are used for cellular telephone systems andlike-type systems, while access points are used for in-home orin-building wireless networks. Regardless of the particular type ofcommunication system, each wireless communication device includes abuilt-in radio transceiver and/or is coupled to a radio transceiver. Theradio transceiver includes a highly linear amplifier and/or programmablemulti-stage amplifier, as disclosed herein, to enhance performance,reduce costs, reduce size, and/or enhance broadband applications.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a wirelesscommunication device that includes the host device 18-32 and anassociated radio 60. For cellular telephone hosts, the radio 60 is abuilt-in component. For personal digital assistants hosts, laptop hosts,and/or personal computer hosts, the radio 60 may be built-in or anexternally coupled component.

As illustrated, the host device 18-32 includes a processing module 50, amemory 52, a radio interface 54, an input interface 58 and an outputinterface 56. The processing module 50 and memory 52 execute thecorresponding instructions that are typically done by the host device.For example, for a cellular telephone host device, the processing module50 performs the corresponding communication functions in accordance witha particular cellular telephone standard.

The radio interface 54 allows data to be received from and sent to theradio 60. For data received from the radio 60 (e.g., inbound data), theradio interface 54 provides the data to the processing module 50 forfurther processing and/or routing to the output interface 56. The outputinterface 56 provides connectivity to an output display device, such asa display, monitor, speakers, etc., such that the received data may bedisplayed. The radio interface 54 also provides data from the processingmodule 50 to the radio 60. The processing module 50 may receive theoutbound data from an input device such as a keyboard, keypad,microphone, etc., via the input interface 58 or generate the dataitself. For data received via the input interface 58, the processingmodule 50 may perform a corresponding host function on the data and/orroute it to the radio 60 via the radio interface 54.

Radio 60 includes a host interface 62, a digital receiver processingmodule 64, an analog-to-digital converter 66, a filtering/gain module68, an IF mixing down-conversion module 70, a receiver filter module 71,a low noise amplifier 72, a transmitter/receiver switch module 73, alocal oscillation module 74, a memory 75, a digital transmitterprocessing module 76, a digital-to-analog converter 78, a filtering/gainmodule 80, an IF mixing up-conversion module 82, a power amplifier 84, atransmitter filter module 85, and an antenna 86. The antenna 86 may be asingle antenna that is shared by the transmit and receive paths asregulated by the Tx/Rx switch module 73, or may include separateantennas for the transmit path and receive path. The antennaimplementation will depend on the particular standard to which thewireless communication device is compliant.

The digital receiver processing module 64 and the digital transmitterprocessing module 76, in combination with operational instructionsstored in memory 75, execute digital receiver functions and digitaltransmitter functions, respectively. The digital receiver functionsinclude, but are not limited to, digital IF to baseband conversion,demodulation, constellation demapping, decoding, and/or descrambling.The digital transmitter functions include, but are not limited to,scrambling, encoding, constellation mapping, modulation, and/or digitalbaseband to IF conversion. The digital receiver and transmitterprocessing modules 64 and 76, respectively, may be implemented using ashared processing device, individual processing devices, or a pluralityof processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor,micro-controller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, centralprocessing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logicdevice, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/ordigital) based on operational instructions. The memory 75 may be asingle memory device or a plurality of memory devices. Such a memorydevice may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory,non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, and/orany device that stores digital information. Note that when theprocessing module 64 and/or 76 implements one or more of its functionsvia a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logiccircuitry, the memory storing the corresponding operational instructionsis embedded with the circuitry comprising the state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

In operation, the radio 60 receives outbound data 94 from the hostdevice via the host interface 62. The host interface 62 routes theoutbound data 94 to the digital transmitter processing module 76, whichprocesses the outbound data 94 in accordance with a particular wirelesscommunication standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, Bluetooth,etc.) to produce digital transmission formatted data 96. The digitaltransmission formatted data 96 will be a digital baseband signal or adigital low IF signal, where the low IF typically will be in thefrequency range of one hundred kilohertz to a few megahertz.

The digital-to-analog converter 78 converts the digital transmissionformatted data 96 from the digital domain to the analog domain. Thefiltering/gain module 80 filters and/or adjusts the gain of the analogsignal prior to providing it to the IF mixing stage 82. The IF mixingup-conversion module 82 directly converts the analog baseband or low IFsignal into an RF signal based on a transmitter local oscillation 83provided by local oscillation module 74, which may be implemented inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention. The poweramplifier 84 amplifies the RF signal to produce outbound RF signal 98,which is filtered by the transmitter filter module 85. The antenna 86transmits the outbound RF signal 98 to a targeted device such as a basestation, an access point and/or another wireless communication device.

The radio 60 also receives an inbound RF signal 88 via the antenna 86,which was transmitted by a base station, an access point, or anotherwireless communication device. The antenna 86 provides the inbound RFsignal 88 to the receiver filter module 71 via the Tx/Rx switch module73, where the Rx filter module 71 bandpass filters the inbound RF signal88. The Rx filter module 71 provides the filtered RF signal to low noiseamplifier 72, which amplifies the inbound RF signal 88 to produce anamplified inbound RF signal. The low noise amplifier 72 provides theamplified inbound RF signal to the IF mixing down-conversion module 70,which directly converts the amplified inbound RF signal into an inboundlow IF signal or baseband signal based on a receiver local oscillation81 provided by local oscillation module 74, which may be implemented inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention. The IF mixingdown-conversion module 70 provides the inbound low IF signal or basebandsignal to the filtering/gain module 68. The filtering/gain module 68filters and/or gains the inbound low IF signal or the inbound basebandsignal to produce a filtered inbound signal.

The analog-to-digital converter 66 converts the filtered inbound signalfrom the analog domain to the digital domain to produce digitalreception formatted data 90. The digital receiver processing module 64decodes, descrambles, demaps, and/or demodulates the digital receptionformatted data 90 to recapture inbound data 92 in accordance with theparticular wireless communication standard being implemented by radio60. The host interface 62 provides the recaptured inbound data 92 to thehost device 18-32 via the radio interface 54.

As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, the wirelesscommunication device of FIG. 2 may be implemented using one or moreintegrated circuits. For example, the host device may be implemented onone integrated circuit, while the digital receiver processing module 64,the digital transmitter processing module 76 and memory 75 may beimplemented on a second integrated circuit. The remaining components ofthe radio 60, less the antenna 86, may be implemented on a thirdintegrated circuit. As an alternate example, the radio 60 may beimplemented on a single integrated circuit. As yet another example, theprocessing module 50 of the host device and the digital receiver andtransmitter processing modules 64 and 76, respectively, may be a commonprocessing device implemented on a single integrated circuit. Further,memory 52 and memory 75 may be implemented on a single integratedcircuit and/or on the same integrated circuit as the common processingmodules of processing module 50 and the digital receiver processingmodule 64 and digital transmitter processing module 76.

Some or all of radio 60 of FIG. 1 includes power managementfunctionality to enable a power management controller to selectivelypower down and power up radio receiver elements according to a pluralityof different modes or aspects of operation, as is described in greaterdetail with reference to the figures that follow. Moreover, the radioreceiver elements that may be powered down and back up to conserve powerdo not necessarily consist of an entire module. For example, the localoscillation module 74 may be separated into a plurality of elements forpower management purposes because each of the components therein havediffering power cycle times. For example, the local oscillation module74 includes a crystal, a crystal amplifier, a PLL and a clockdistribution tree in one embodiment of the invention. These elements donot all have equal power cycle characteristics and may, therefore, becontrolled separately for power management purposes.

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram of a radio receiver operating in accordancewith the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 3, an IEEE 802.15.3Standard Defined communication for high data rate wireless personal areanetworks includes the transmission of periodic beacons that signal thebeginning of a communication signal that is, in turn, followed by acontention access period (CAP) and at least one allocated time slot fordata communications. Under 802.15.3, the period between beacons istypically in the range of ten to a few hundred milliseconds. Typically,in a time division multiple access (TDMA) environment, a plurality ofallocated time slots follow the CAP wherein each time slot is allocatedfor communications for a particular radio device. Thus, according to theprotocol, a plurality of guaranteed time slots (GTS) follow the CAP. Aparticular radio knows which allocated time slot is allocated for itsuse and, therefore, how much time exists until that designated time slotbegins.

Accordingly, the present invention includes powering down specific radioreceiver elements according to a plurality of factors, including powerdown time, power up time required, the duration of a power down period(and thus the relative power savings) in relation to additional powerrequired to bring the radio receiver/transmitter element back into anoperational state. The value of “t” represents the time between beacons,the time from CAP to the allocated time slot of the GTS, the time fromthe allocated time slot to the subsequent beacon, and the time from abeacon to the allocated time slot of the GTS. Thus, as may be seen, thetiming of the allocated time slot with respect to each of the otherportions of the signal is known. Accordingly, a controller operatingaccording to the present invention may readily calculate an amount oftime “t” until an allocated time slot arrives as a part of determiningwhether to place a specified radio receiver element in to a power downstate or mode of operation.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of a radio receiver operating in accordancewith the present invention. As before, the beacons are separated by aspecified period (“t”). Typical values for the specified period canrange from approximately ten milliseconds to approximately hundreds ofmilliseconds for some communication networks and protocols and by evengreater values for other networks and protocols. FIG. 4 specificallyillustrates that a power control module may determine to place a radioreceiver element, or a plurality of radio receiver elements, in a powerdown mode of operation for a specified number of beacons (a specifiedamount of time). For example, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention, the power control module determines to place the at least oneradio receiver element into a reduced power mode of operation for aperiod equal to ten beacons (hundreds to thousands of milliseconds).

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram illustrating power reduction operation inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention and, morespecifically, a method for power reduction. A power control moduledetermines an inactivity time 130. In the example, the inactivity timeis time between received RF transmissions 132. The power control moduledetermines if any receiver element can be powered off and powered upduring the inactivity time 130 in order to save power. The power controlmodule uses a known element wake up time 134 to calculate a restorationtime 136. The restoration time indicates when the element must bepowered on in order achieve an operational mode steady state 138 priorto the expiration of the inactivity time 130. If sufficient time existsbetween a known settle time 140 and the restoration time 136 to justifypowering the element down and the back up, a power savings maybe berealized. Accordingly, the power control module instructs the element topower down at power down time 142. The element remains in a reducedpower mode (either off or operating at a lower power level) until therestoration time 136. At restoration time 136, the element is poweredback on.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of areceiver path of a handheld host according to the present invention. Asmay be seen, a power control module 150 is coupled to provide powermanagement control for each radio receiver element shown therein. Morespecifically, the power control module 150 is coupled to provide powerup and power down signals to each element of the radio receiver elementsshown therein FIG. 6. Each element shown in FIG. 6 has a specified powerdown and power up period. Some elements have a power up period that isapproximately equal to 4 or 5 microseconds, while other elements (e.g.,an oscillator) require 4 or 5 milliseconds to power up. Thus, the powercontrol module 150 determines whether to power down and power up aparticular element according to the amount of time that it takes topower it down, power it up, and the amount of power consumed therefor inrelation to the amount saved for the period in which the radio receiverelement will be in a power down state of operation.

More specifically, power control module 150 is coupled to provide powerdown and power up signals to a plurality of radio transceiver circuitelements, including an RF front end module 154, a baseband processormodule 158, a medium access control (MAC) module 162 and a localoscillator module 166. The RF front end module 154 further includes alow noise amplifier 170, a filter module 174 and an intermediatefrequency (I/F) conversion module 178. Similarly, local oscillatormodule 166 includes a crystal 182, a crystal amplifier 186, aphase-locked loop (PLL) 190 and a clock distribution tree 194. Finally,the MAC module 162 includes first and second portions 196 and 198.

Each of these transceiver elements has a settle time based upon manyfactors, including, for example, time constants from a combination ofcapacitive, inductive and resistive impedance elements therein.Accordingly, the power control module 150 can determine whether to powerdown the transceiver elements and then back up based upon the knownsettle time for each transceiver element. In the described embodiment ofthe invention, radio power management controller 150 includes theability to individually generate power down and power up commands toeach transceiver element based upon the known corresponding settletimes.

Regarding the specified power up and power down period of each radiotransceiver element as referenced above, circuit elements may bedesigned to have faster or slower wake up times. In the past, designerstypically considered IC real estate, power, and operational speed indesigning integrated circuits. With the trend towards improvingcapabilities of wireless mobile radio transceivers, however, powerconsumption is becoming an increasingly important consideration. Thus,circuits may be designed having shorter power cycle times orcharacteristics at the cost of, for example, IC real estate. Such adesign would be feasible if, for example, the average power consumed bya circuit component is reduced by implementing a design that consumesgreater power while operating but, because of shorter power cycle times,may be powered down on a more frequent basis utilizing the presentinvention.

While not specifically shown in FIG. 6, there are other elements towhich the present invention applies. For example, an analog to digitalconverter in a radio receiver may also be powered down and then back up.Thus, the present invention applies to all radio receiver elements. Asmay be seen from FIG. 6, the MAC module 162 provides a inactivity periodto power control module 150. Thus, if MAC module 162 determines that theinactivity period is just until the next allocated time slot is toarrive, power control module 150 will only power down those radioreceiver elements for which a power savings could be realized and forwhich there exists adequate time to power the radio receiver elementdown and then back up. For example, if the allocated time slot is toarrive in 3 milliseconds, local oscillator 166 would not be powered downcompletely, instead, an analog-to-digital converter with a 4 to 5microsecond power up time value would be powered down. For those radioreceiver elements that cannot be powered down fully, power controlmodule 150 also considers a reduced power down mode. For example, in thecase of local oscillator 166, the frequency of oscillation may besignificantly reduced to save power, but only to a value that wouldenable it to be brought back up to the operational frequency in aspecified amount of time. As there exists a relationship for anoscillator between voltage and power required in relation to frequencyof operation, even a reduced frequency mode of operation saves power.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a medium access control (MAC)module illustrating one aspect of the present embodiment of theinvention. The MAC 210 module of FIG. 7 illustrates that it includes aplurality of portions (here, two). Each of the portions is separatelycontrollable in terms of the power management control function by aradio power control module. Thus, for example, a bottom portion 220 ofthe MAC 210 may be powered down, while an upper portion 230 containing atiming and synchronization module and digital signal processing (DSP)module may be left in a power on state. Thus, power consumption isreduced by only powering down a portion of MAC 210 extending batterylife of the radio receiver. Here, a packet processing hardware module, asecurity module, an event scheduler module and other modules may bepowered down separately from the modules in the upper portion of theMAC.

The following table further illustrates operation of the presentinvention and, more particularly, the aspect of the invention illustratein FIG. 7. The power state table illustrates a mapping between ranges oftime-specific radio receiver elements that may be powered down and thenback up in a manner that saves power. Thus, for a value of “t” that isless than T1, no device is powered down. For a value of “t” that isbetween T4 and T5, the local oscillator crystal is powered down to areduced power mode of operation as discussed before. For a value of “t”that exceeds T5, all radio receiver elements may be powered down.

Power State Table Rx inactive time Rx element State t < T1 Analog FrontEnd on Physical BB Processor on LO Crystal on LO Crystal Amp. on LO PLLon LO Clock Distribution Tree on MAC Processor (1^(st) portion) on MACProcessor (1^(st) portion) on T1 < t < T2 Analog Front End reduced powerPhysical BB Processor on LO Crystal on LO Crystal Amp. on LO PLL on LOClock Distribution Tree on MAC Processor (1^(st) portion) off MACProcessor (1^(st) portion) T2 < t < T3 Analog Front End off Physical BBProcessor on LO Crystal on LO Crystal Amp. reduced power LO PLL on LOClock Distribution Tree off MAC Processor (1^(st) portion) on MACProcessor (1^(st) portion) off T3 < t < T4 Analog Front End off PhysicalBB Processor reduced power LO Crystal on LO Crystal Amp. off LO PLL onLO Clock Distribution Tree off MAC Processor (1^(st) portion) on MACProcessor (1^(st) portion) off T4 < t < T5 Analog Front End off PhysicalBB Processor off LO Crystal reduced power LO Crystal Amp. off LO PLL onLO Clock Distribution Tree off MAC Processor (1^(st) portion) off MACProcessor (1^(st) portion) off T5 < t Analog Front End off Physical BBProcessor off LO Crystal off LO Crystal Amp. off LO PLL off LO ClockDistribution Tree off MAC Processor (1^(st) portion) off MAC Processor(1^(st) portion) off

The preceding power state table is exemplary of one implementation. Itis understood that the mapping between inactive time and elementoperation may readily be defined by the operator or designer. Thefollowing power state factors table illustrates a further mappingbetween the radio receiver elements and timing factors. Thus, each radioreceiver element includes a specific group of time values that isconsidered by the power control module in determining when and whetherto power down an element and when to power the element back up so thatit can be in an operational state by the time that an allocated timeslot is received.

Power State Factors Power down power up reduced power reduced powerelement time time down time up recovery time timing threshold AnalogFront End t_(AFE1) t_(AFE2) t_(AFE3) t_(AFE4) t_(AFE5) Physical BBt_(PHY1) t_(PHY2) t_(PHY3) t_(PHY4) t_(PHY5) Processor LO crystalt_(CRYS1) t_(CRYS2) t_(CRYS3) t_(CRYS4) t_(CRYS5) LO crystal amp t_(CA1)t_(CA2) T_(CA3) t_(CA4) t_(CA5) LO PLL t_(PLL1) t_(PLL2) t_(PLL3)t_(PLL4) t_(PLL5) LO clk dist. tree t_(CDT1) t_(CDT2) t_(CDT3) t_(CDT4)t_(CDT5) MAC (1^(st) portn) t_(1ST MAC1) t_(1ST MAC 2) t_(1ST MAC 3)t_(1ST MAC 4) t_(1ST MAC 5) MAC (2^(nd) portn) t_(2ND MAC1)t_(2ND MAC 2) t_(2ND MAC 3) t_(2ND MAC 4) t_(2ND MAC 5)

Each element, as may be seen, has a plurality of time values that thepower control module evaluates when determining whether to power downthe element. Examining the timing values for the Analog Front End, apower down time t_(AFE1) defines the amount of time that is required topower down the Analog Front End. The power up time t_(AFE2) illustratesthe amount of time required for the Analog Front End to power up from anoff state. The time value t_(AFE3) illustrates the amount of timerequired for the Analog Front End to power down to a reduced power modewhile the time value t_(AFE4) illustrates the amount of time requiredfor the Analog Front End to power up from a reduced power state.Finally, the time t_(FE5) illustrates a minimum time value that isrequired for the inactivity time for the power savings realized frompowering down (or operating in a reduced power mode) to justify poweringdown the element (either off or to a reduced power mode). Thus, byreceiving an inactivity time value from the MAC processor or byotherwise determining the inactivity time, the power control processoris able to determine what elements can be powered down and what elementscan be powered to a reduced power mode of operation.

A beacon is used, in one embodiment of the present invention, to informa radio receiver of whether it has an allocated time slot with data.Thus, the radio receiver is able to determine whether to power anelement down and when to power an element back up. Further, however, inan 802.15.3 device, the radio receiver communicates with an access pointto advise it of a duration in which it will be operating in a sleep modeor powered down mode. Accordingly, the access point, upon receiving suchan indication from a transmitter coupled to the radio receiver, canqueue or buffer messages for the radio receiver until the expiration ofthe power down or sleep mode of operation.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the power control moduledetermines what radio receiver elements may be powered down and thepower down mode according to the terminal type. For example, a devicethat receives real time data, such as continuous bit rate data (liveradio or video broadcasts, for example) may be less tolerant to havingpowered down modes of operation for a specified period, thereby causingan access point to queue the data therefor.

In another embodiment of the present invention, and for othercommunication protocols (for example, Bluetooth), a radio receiver goesinto a sleep mode of operation and occasionally “sniffs” for data (wakesup to communicate with the access point to download any queued data ormessages). In one embodiment of the invention, a clear channelassessment is periodically made to determine whether a receiver orreceiver element should be powered up. For a specific illustration, alow noise amplifier is powered up to determine, with a crude degree ofapproximation, whether a channel selected by a front end channel selectfilter detects that the specified channel includes data or transmissionsthereon. If the possibility of such transmissions seems to exist, radioreceiver elements are powered up to further facilitate determiningwhether the radio receiver should be brought up to a fully operationalstate. In one alternate embodiment, a received signal strength indicator(RSSI) is used to determine whether any powered down elements should bepowered back on.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the power controlmodule (or the MAC) makes the power down and power up decisions anddetermines the duration of inactivity (power down) periods based upon ahistory of transmissions and receptions and, in one embodiment, inrelation to known and upcoming needs. The history may evaluate devicetype, data type and other similar factors.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for saving power in a radioreceiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. First,logic within the radio receiver determines a receiver inactivity timewherein the receiver inactivity time is a time period between receivedradio frequency (RF) transmissions (step 250). The inactivity time isbased upon a number of considerations, including known and definedcommunication periods, a number of communication beacons, or a knownamount of time until an allocated time slot in a time dividedcommunication system.

The logic that performs step 250, as well as the other steps describedherein, may be formed in hardware or may be defined by computerinstructions that are executed by hardware, such as a micro-controller,microprocessor or any other processing device. For example, the computerinstructions stored in memory may be executed by a baseband processor inone embodiment of the present invention. The remaining discussion willbe made from the perspective of the radio receiver, though it isunderstood that any device performing the inventive steps arespecifically within the scope of the present invention.

After the receiver inactivity time is determined, the radio receiverdetermines a list of elements of the radio receiver that can be powereddown and back up within the receiver inactivity time to reduce powerconsumption (step 254). Generally, this step includes determining if thereceiver inactivity time is greater than the sum of the time required topower an element down and then back up (power cycle time). The elementsin the list of elements include at least one of a RF front end section,a low noise amplifier, a local oscillator crystal, a local oscillatorcrystal amplifier, a local oscillator phase-locked-loop module, a localoscillator clock distribution tree, a filtering module, a physicalbaseband processor module, an analog-to-digital conversion module, and afirst portion of the MAC processor, or a second portion of the MACprocessor.

For some elements there will not be enough time to power down, but theremay be enough time to power down to a reduced power mode and then backup. For example, a local oscillator may be able to power down portionsof its circuitry, or even merely reduce a voltage therefor, to reduceoverall power consumption in situations in which the local oscillatorwould not be able to entirely power down and back up within thedetermined inactivity time. Thus, the next step is to place at least onecircuit element of the radio receiver into a power reduction mode (step258).

In addition to placing the at least one circuit element into a powerreduction mode, the radio receiver determines a restoration time for theat least one circuit element (step 262). The restoration time isapproximately equal to the determined inactivity time minus an elementwake up time for the at least one circuit element. Finally, the radioreceiver provides power to the at least one circuit element of the radioreceiver to restore it to an operational mode at the restoration timewherein the at least one circuit element has reached a steady state ofoperation by the expiration of the inactivity time (step 266).

In addition to performing the above-described steps on anelement-by-element basis, the above steps may be performed for groups ofelements. For example, a first group of circuit elements having a powercycle time value that is within a first range of time may be powereddown as long as the inactivity time is also within the first range oftime and is greater than the greatest power cycle time value of theelements listed in the first group. Similarly, multiple groups may beformed for multiple ranges of time. One advantage of grouping elementsin this manner is that processing requirements to determine whatelements should be powered down for a given activity time is reduced.

Finally, the above-described processes have been in the context of asingle receiver. It is understood that a transceiver may well have aplurality of radio receivers. In such a case, the above describedprocesses may readily be performed for the elements on a receiver byreceiver basis or, alternatively, for all receiver elements in theplurality of radio receivers without distinction as to which radioreceiver an element belongs.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternate method within a radio transceiverintegrated circuit for reducing power consumption. The method of FIG. 9comprises determining to not power down any radio transceiver elementsbased upon the inactivity time being less than or equal to a first value(step 270). Thereafter, the process includes, based upon the inactivitytime being greater than the first value and less than a second value,determining to power down a first group of transceiver elements (step274). The first group of elements is a subset of a group of allelements. The invention further includes, based upon the inactivity timebeing greater than the second value and less than or equal to a thirdvalue, determining to power down a second group of radio transceiverelements (step 278). Additionally, the inventive process includes, basedupon the inactivity time being greater than the third value and lessthan or equal to a fourth value, determining to power down a third groupof radio transceiver elements (step 282). The invention furtherincludes, based upon the inactivity time being greater than the fourthvalue and less than or equal to a fifth value, determining to power downa fourth group of radio transceiver elements (step 286). As may be seen,the invention, in this embodiment, includes powering down radiotransceiver elements in groups according to ranges of inactivity time.

The invention further includes determining a restoration time for eachpowered down element (step 290). Additionally, for each element that hasbeen powered down, the method includes powering the element back on atits corresponding restoration time (step 294). In one embodiment of theinvention, elements may be grouped together according to power cycletimes being within the same range of restoration time values (step 298).

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of the inventive method utilizing aperiodic power mode of operation. Initially, a handheld host powers downreceiver elements either singularly or in groups according to adetermined inactivity time in relation to a power cycle time (step 302).In this example, the inactivity time may be one that is user selected(rather than known communication signal timing events). Thereafter, theinvention includes determining a restoration time for each powered downelement (step 306). For each element that has been powered down, theinvention includes powering the element back up at its correspondingrestoration time (step 310). Finally, after a specified period of time,the invention includes powering up any non-powered elements necessary toreceive pending messages and attempt to receive any pending messages(step 314). In one example, the non-powered elements may be in a dormantstate for a prolonged period. Thus, the non-powered elements are poweredtemporarily to sniff for indications that an external device isattempting to communicate with the hand held host or, alternatively, hasqueued messages or data for the handheld host.

The preceding discussion has presented a method and apparatus for aradio receiver, including a power control module for extending areceiver's battery life. As one of average skill in the art willappreciate, other embodiments may be derived from the teaching of thepresent invention, without deviating from the scope of the claims.

1. A method for saving power in a radio receiver, comprising:identifying a receiver inactivity time, wherein the receiver inactivitytime is a time period between received radio frequency (RF)transmissions in an established communication link; identifying aplurality of elements of the radio receiver that can be powered down andback within the receiver inactivity time to reduce power consumption;and identifying a restoration time for at least one element of the radioreceiver, wherein the restoration time is a time at which the at leastone element should automatically be powered on in order achieve anoperational mode steady state prior to the expiration of the receiverinactivity time.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: poweringdown the at least one element of the radio receiver during the receiverinactivity time; and powering the at least one element of the radioreceiver back to an operational mode based only upon the restorationtime, wherein the at least one element has reached a steady state ofoperation by the expiration of the receiver inactivity time.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the identifying the receiver inactivity timeincludes: determining the receiver inactivity time based upon known anddefined communication periods, a number of communication beacons, or aknown amount of time until an allocated time slot in a time dividedcommunication system.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least oneelement comprises at least one of a RF front end section, a low noiseamplifier, a local oscillator crystal, a local oscillator crystalamplifier, a local oscillator phase-locked-loop module, a localoscillator clock distribution tree, a filtering module, a physicalbaseband processor module, an analog-to-digital conversion module, afirst portion of a medium access control (MAC) processor, or a secondportion of the MAC processor.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein therestoration time is approximately equal to the determined receiverinactivity time minus an element wake up time for the at least oneelement.
 6. A method for saving power in a radio receiver, comprising:identifying a radio receiver element inactivity time for at least oneradio receiver element in an established communication link; poweringdown, based upon the determined radio receiver element inactivity time,the at least one radio receiver element; identifying a restoration timefor the at least one radio receiver element wherein the restoration timeis a time at which the at least one radio receiver element shouldautomatically be powered on in order achieve an operational mode steadystate prior to the expiration of the radio receiver element inactivitytime; and powering the at least one radio receiver element to anoperational mode based solely on the restoration time.
 7. The method ofclaim 6 wherein the identifying the inactivity time further comprisesdetermining the radio receiver element inactivity time based upon knownand defined communication periods, a number of communication beacons, ora known amount of time until an allocated time slot in a time dividedcommunication system.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the restorationtime is approximately equal to the determined radio receiver inactivitytime minus an element wake up time for the at least one radio receiverelement.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein the at least one radioreceiver element comprises at least one of a RF front end section, a lownoise amplifier, a local oscillator crystal, a local oscillator crystalamplifier, a local oscillator phase-locked-loop module, a localoscillator clock distribution tree, a filtering module, a physicalbaseband processor module, an analog-to-digital conversion module, afirst portion of a medium access control (MAC) processor, or a secondportion of the MAC processor.
 10. The method of claim 6 furthercomprising: identifying a respective radio receiver element inactivitytime for each of a plurality of radio receiver elements; powering down,based upon the determined respective radio receiver element inactivitytime, the plurality of radio receiver elements; identifying a respectiverestoration time for each of the plurality of radio receiver elements;and powering the plurality of radio receiver elements to an operationalmode at the respective restoration time of each of the plurality ofradio receiver elements.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein therespective radio receiver element inactivity time for each of theplurality of radio receiver elements is determined based upon a numberof communication beacons.
 12. A method for saving power in a radioreceiver, comprising: identifying a radio receiver element inactivitytime for at least one radio receiver element in an establishedcommunication link; identifying a restoration time for the at least oneradio receiver element wherein the restoration time is a time at whichthe at least one radio receiver element should automatically be poweredon in order achieve an operational mode steady state prior to theexpiration of the radio receiver element inactivity time; determiningwhether to place the at least one radio receiver element into a powerreduction mode based on the radio receiver element inactivity time;determining what type of a plurality of types of power reduction modesshould be selected for the at least one radio receiver element if it isto be placed into the power reduction mode; placing the at least oneradio receiver element into the selected power reduction mode; andpowering the at least one radio receiver element to an operational modebased solely on the restoration time.
 13. The method of claim 12 whereinthe identifying the receiver element inactivity time further comprises:determining the receiver element inactivity time based upon known anddefined communication periods, a number of communication beacons, or aknown amount of time until an allocated time slot in a time dividedcommunication system.
 14. The method of claim 12 wherein the restorationtime is approximately equal to the determined inactivity time minus anelement wake up time for the at least one radio receiver element. 15.The method of claim 12 wherein the at least one radio receiver elementcomprises at least one of a RF front end section, a low noise amplifier,a local oscillator crystal, a local oscillator crystal amplifier, alocal oscillator phase-locked-loop module, a local oscillator clockdistribution tree, a filtering module, a physical baseband processormodule, an analog-to-digital conversion module, a first portion of amedium access control (MAC) processor, or a second portion of the MACprocessor.
 16. The method of claim 12 further comprising: identifying arespective radio receiver element inactivity time for each of aplurality of radio receiver elements; and identifying a respectiverestoration time for each of the plurality of radio receiver elements.17. The method of claim 12 further comprising: placing each of theplurality of radio receiver elements in a power reduction mode basedupon the determined respective receiver element inactivity time; andpowering each of the plurality of radio receiver elements to anoperational mode at the respective restoration time determined for eachof the plurality of radio receiver elements.
 18. The method of claim 12wherein the selected power reduction mode is a partial power reductionmode.
 19. The method of claim 12 wherein the selected power reductionmode is a full power reduction mode.
 20. A method for saving power in aradio receiver, comprising: identifying a plurality of elements of theradio receiver that can be powered down and back within a receiverinactivity time to reduce power consumption, wherein the receiverinactivity time is a time period between received radio frequency (RF)transmissions in an established communication link; and powering atleast one of the elements of the radio receiver to an operational modebased only upon a restoration time, wherein the at least one element hasreached a steady state of operation by the expiration of the receiverinactivity time, wherein the restoration time is a time at which the atleast one element should automatically be powered on in order to achievean operational mode steady state prior to the expiration of the receiverinactivity time.